Sandwich Harbour is one of the only 3 places on earth, with the inland sea in Qatar and the Death Acre in Angola, where the sand dunes desert directly meet the sea. While being very risky to explore on your own, there are a few local guides that can help you enjoy its amazing scenery.
This article depicts how to explore the amazing Sandwich Harbour.
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How to reach Sandwich Harbour?
Sandwich harbor is located 50km south of Walwis Bay.
Walvis Bay itself is only a 30-minute drive away from Swakopmund.
There are no roads leading to Sandwich Harbour and its magnificent dunes that meet the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, from the moment you leave Walvis Bay, the road is just sand with no indications whatsoever.
Where to stop on the way to Walvis Bay?
Take the best quad ride of your life in Dune 7
40 km south of Swakopmund and very easily accessible from Walvis Bay, lays Dune 7. This dune is the highest of the Namib Desert.
Initially, we just went quad biking to kill time. Indeed, with endless deserts in the U.A.E, we gotta say that we weren’t particularly missing it.
However, we were very positively surprised by this quad bike ride. Thus, it ended up being the best quad ride I have ever had. Besides, the views of the desert were just out of this world.
Meet locals and enjoy the scenery at the Waterfront
Walvis Bay has a small area called the Jetty where there a few options to eat sea food and have a drink.
In there we met a very interesting local woman nicked-named Blondie who taught us a few clicks of the Damara Nama language.
Where to stay in Walvis Bay?
As one of the main cities in Namibia, Walvis Bay has quite a few options to stay.
- If you looking for a cheap stay you can try the Sunflower Self-Catering.
- Perfect Intermediate options would be the Lagoon Suites or the Rez Guesthouse.
- If you want a more comfortable stay, the luxurious Bay View Resort would then probably be the best fit for you.
How to explore Sandwich Harbour?
While the 4×4 that most tourist rent are definitely adapted to drive all the way to Sandwich, we highly DO NOT recommend to do so.
Some of you might find it silly to have rented a 4×4 and not driving it when it is the most adapted. However, driving here is extremely challenging. Indeed, there are many areas where you car would sink that only locals know about. Furthermore, the tides change so rapidly that you might find your car trapped between huge dunes and the ocean. We have heard of a few cases of cars that were taken away by the ocean.
For all the above reasons, we recommend to visit through a local tour. We did ours with Rammie from Photo Ventures but there are many other reputable companies in case they are fully booked.
Stop at the Pink river water before Sandwich Harbour
As far as we are concerned, our tour with Rammie was fantastic. He picked us up in the Walvis Bay where we started our journey.
Before heading to the desert, we made a stop at the salt processing plant. In there lays the largest sea salt mine in Sub-saharan Africa.
Thus, the mine itself covers 6000 hectares of land from which 700,000 tons of sea salt are extracted yearly. This salt is exported to the rest of the continent and the world. Nevertheless, only 8 to 10% lands in our tables to season food. The rest is sold for other applications such as preventing icing on the roads for instance. In addition, they also produce by-products that are used by the fertilizing industry.
One of the very interesting fact is that this area is a breeding ground for shrimps and larval fish. Thus. the abundance of these species produces a mesmerizing effect on the water turning it pink. The result is astonishing
Make sure to drive between the ocean and the sea
Then, after exploring the salt production area, we headed straight to the Namib-Naukluft National Park entrance. On the way there, you can see many Namibians spending their afternoons shore fishing.
While this part looks easily drivable if you already experience driving on sand, it is actually treacherous. Our guide Rammie, was explaining to us how so many cars diverted from the tracks and found themselves trapped in areas with quick sand.
One wrong turn and your experience can turn very sour.
If there is one thing you should plan for, it is the tide. In fact, our experience driving between the ocean and the sea was unforgettable. Despite reaching there almost at high tide, our guide Rammie had enough experience and confidence to drive us that way.
Indeed, it was such a surreal experience. Thus, we were having the very high dune on the left side of the car and the ocean waves almost taking us away on the right side of the car.
Rammie was skillful enough to know when to wait for the right moment to drive through some areas where the tide was already very high.
NassPacker Tip : Make sure to always keep your windows closed as there are millions of flies in this area. One moment of inattention and you car could be full of thousands of flies
Enjoy the 4×4 Dune Bashing
One of the fun activities is to drive through the desert. Indeed some of the dunes are so high that climbing them up and down with the 4×4 becomes a thrilling adventure.
Sandwich Harbour has one of the most beautiful deserts in the planet. Thanks to our guide Rammie, we made sure to stop at the most beautiful dunes where we could have panoramic and scenic views.
Such a scenery was just out of this world.
Search for the Small 5 in Sandwich Harbour
Who knew that after chasing the BIG 5 in safaris (Lions, Rhinos, Leopards, Elephants and Buffalos), you could also look for the Small 5.
While it is very difficult to spot the tiny creatures in the middle of the desert, you might be lucky enough to spot some of the below animals :
- Namib Dune Gecko
- Shovel Snouted Lizard
- Sidewinder snake
- Cartwheeling Spider
- Namaqua Chameleon
- Black scorpion
- Reticulated Desert Lizard
- Fitzsimon’s Burrowing Skink
- Tenebrionid Beetles
- Namib Sand Snake
In case you to take it further, some tours specialize in taking you through the desert to look for these unique tiny animals.
Keep your eyes open for the herds of Oryx and gazelles of Sandwich Harbour
As surprising as it might seem, the desert is full of wildlife. While we can easily conceive the presence of small insects, we were astonished to see how many big mammals. could survive this environment.
In addition, Rammie showed us how easy it is to find water in the deserts if you know where and what to look for.
As everywhere in Namibia, you can easily tell that thousands or millions of years ago, all this desert was probably covered with lush forests and plains.
As we were starting to head back to Walvis Bay, we suddenly saw some movement far away from us. In a word, we could not believe our eyes. Indeed, these were oryxes that were running through the dunes
The scene was so perfect that we spent to time in silence to admire it.
We also got to see groups of gazelles wandering around the desert.
Finish off your Sandwich Harbour experience with a grand finale : Flamingos and sunset
Before heading back to you car to finish the tour, make sure to stop by the corniche where dozens or migratory birds hang out. Among the animals that enjoy these wetlands are the flamingos.
Indeed, you are in for the perfect postcard picture: The view of flamingos in the foreground, the amazing sunset in the background and the perfect reflection over the water
All in all, visiting Sandwich Harbor with Rammie was one of the highlights of our trip in Namibia. We highly recommend stopping here before heading to the world renowned Sossusvlei.
NassPacker Tip:
You can contact Rammie directly via phone (+264 81 426 1200 / +264 81 128 6713)
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